Rural Women Farmers' Perception of Commercialisation of Agricultural Extension Service Delivery in Nigeria

The inability of public extension service system to adequately respond to the challenges of agricultural development and modernisation in Nigeria calls for alternative systems, including commercialisation of extension service. Because of their strategically significant role in national food production and farm family systems, this paper studied the perceptions of women on commercialisation of extension service in Kwara State. A four-stage systematic random sampling technique was used to select 230 respondents, while a structured questionnaire was used in data elicitation. The questionnaire also consisted of ten positively presented perceptions of commercialisation on a 5-point Likert-type scale that was used to calculate Extension Commercialisation Perception Coefficient (ECPC) for each respondent. Data analysis revealed that respondents were generally negatively disposed to commercialisation (̅x=2.69). Furthermore, most respondents believed that farmers should be encouraged to support commercialisation (̅x=4.35) and that charges, if at all, should be based on farming income (̅x=4.40). Correlation analysis showed that education (r=.644, p=.002), farming income (r=.754, p.=.005), and farm size (r=.776, p=.013) were positively significant correlates of ECPC among respondents. Also significant were income and size of personal farm. It is thus imperative that any form of commercialisation of extension service be preceded by farmer empowerment and proper orientation to ensure widespread acceptability.